Jet Black vs Black Magic
Where Jet Black belongs to Benjamin Moore's range, Black Magic is a Sherwin-Williams color. Both sit in the grey family, which is useful context if you're narrowing within a single hue direction. They have nearly identical light reflectance values (5 vs 3), so they'll read as similarly Dark in most lighting conditions. Jet Black runs blue and purple while Black Magic is decidedly neutral, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. At ΔE 0.9, these are close — the kind of difference that matters when choosing between them, but doesn't read strongly in a finished room. Below you'll find 3 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Jet Black vs Black Magic in Real Spaces
3 real rooms side by side. Jet Black and Black Magic are close enough that the difference can be hard to judge from a chip alone — these photos show how each reads at scale, across different spaces and lighting conditions.
Living Room
In a living room, color works across both daylight and evening light — the same wall can read very differently at noon and at 8pm. The two are close enough that the choice comes down to finer qualities — undertone, texture, what the color sits next to.
House
Seen across an entire facade, subtle tonal differences become pronounced. What reads as nearly the same on a chip often reads as clearly different at scale. At this scale the difference is subtle — you'd need them side by side, as shown here, to reliably tell them apart.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. At this scale the difference is subtle — you'd need them side by side, as shown here, to reliably tell them apart.
Color Details
Jet Black vs Black Magic Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Jet Black on one side and Black Magic on the other.
Digital color is approximate. These simulations are generated from the manufacturer's hex values and overlaid on grayscale room photos — your screen's calibration, brightness, and viewing angle all affect how they render. Before committing to either color, test physical samples in your own space under the light you actually live with.
More Jet Black comparisons
See how Jet Black stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
